They are not screaming this from the rooftops, but there seems to be quite a bit of action going on over at Sprint. Action like attracting key executives from competitors, improving network performance and starting to focus on new marketing messages to let everyone know about the improvement.
Like the “Six Million Dollar Man” from years ago, Sprint seems to be getting better, stronger and faster. Who knows, maybe they will get Lee Majors to join the “can you hear me now” guy in their advertising. Like when Steve Austin crashed and burned then was rebuilt, the same seems to be happening at Sprint. They are rebuilding and improving their services and competitive position. Now they need to turn up the volume and let the world know about their progress.
Let’s take a quick look at what’s happening.
Executive leadership
In recent months, Sprint is getting their hands on some strong talent from across the wireless industry. Former nTelos CEO Jim Hyde is getting ready to lead Sprint’s prepaid operations as Dow Draper moves to be CEO of Virgin Mobile USA. Nelly Pitocco comes from AT&T and is Sprint’s new VP of Enterprise Sales. Mariano Legas and Pat Devlin come from Verizon. Stay tuned, because I don’t think we’ve seen the end of this executive talent acquisition.
South Central regional headquarters
They have opened a South Central Regional Headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas. This will be the offices for their consumer and business sales and marketing operations as well as finance. Will this be the only regional headquarters or is this just the beginning or will there be more?
Network improvements
Sprint has also seen improvements in network reach and speed. In fact, according to Nielson and RootMetrics, their service is rated as best in a few markets and is within a stone’s throw in some other markets with major competitors like Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility. Their small cell deployment among other things is measurably improving the Sprint experience.
I have smartphones from all the major providers and can say there is a definite improvement at Sprint over the last couple years.
Turn up the dial on marketing
With this improvement in Sprint services, they need to let the world know. So they have launched a campaign with the Verizon, “can you hear me now” guy Paul Marcarelli. Word is we should expect to see more along these lines in upcoming advertising as the year unfolds. This could be a fun and interesting next step to watch.
Youthenize the Sprint brand
Along with turning up the heat on marketing, Sprint needs to update the brand in the mind of the customer. Shake it up. Youthenize the brand. Like what AT&T did after SBC acquired BellSouth, Cingular and AT&T a decade ago. That turned out just fine and Sprint could have a similar result if they play their cards right and continue to do the right things.
What’s next at Sprint?
So there is quite a bit of activity going on at Sprint with executives, network improvements and marketing. If they keep up with this current wave after wave of transformation and growth, I would not be surprised to see the company transform into a growth leader in wireless. Something that hasn’t happened in quite a long time.
Wireless splitting into two different segments
It’s important to understand that wireless as an industry is now going through a major transformation. There are two, distinct sides of the wireless industry.
Companies like AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless are able to combine wireless with wire line, television, internet and, in AT&T’s case, ultra-fast internet and more.
While Sprint and T-Mobile were the laggards for many years, that is changing. T-Mobile growth started once again a few years ago and is continuing. Sprint growth has more recently begun, and looks like it is on a rapid transformation track as well.
So it’s important to have a good understanding of how wireless is changing as an industry. Growth is changing and expanding for all the carriers, but in different ways.
With all that said, it looks like Sprint is in the early stages of what may become a very interesting year in their history. Stay tuned.
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